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| Original Title: | Mystery |
| ISBN: | 2266126075 (ISBN13: 9782266126076) |
| Edition Language: | French |
| Series: | Blue Rose Trilogy #2 |
| Setting: | Caribbean Wisconsin(United States) |
Peter Straub
Paperback | Pages: 728 pages Rating: 3.94 | 3740 Users | 165 Reviews
Description As Books Mystery (Blue Rose Trilogy #2)
Straub followed up his grim and intense post-Vietnam War psychological thriller Koko with something that is nearly the opposite... a big plummy murder mystery set in two past eras, detailing the life of a poor little rich boy as he goes about solving mysteries and falling in love. however - lest you think this is a warm and nostalgic character study a la Stephen King - let me assure you that the Straub who wrote this one is still the Straub who prefers to write from the head rather than from the heart. so you are more likely to feel a chill than enjoy any kind of comfy human warmth.the novel is set in two locations: the exclusive island of Mill Walk in the early 60s, home to an impoverished native community and a bunch of sickening wannabe aristocrats who rule over them; Eagle Lake in the early 60s and the late 20s (i think) - a lakeside residence in Wisconsin, where those wannabe aristocrats spend their summers. the settings are the strongest feature of the novel.
our young sleuth of a protagonist is surprisingly robotic. his lack of affect and generally chilly behavior - while charming and quite understandable to a robot such as myself - could potentially create a real sense of distance and lack of empathy between reader and story. i will give Straub credit for really trying to make Tom vivid and affectionate and full of life - but there is a difference between trying really hard through repetition of certain phrases and actions... and, well, actually succeeding. characterization in general is not a real strength: the heroic and grandfatherly gent Lamont Cranston (yes, "The Shadow", but not that Shadow) is pretty much a cartoon character. same goes for nearly the rest of the cast, most of whom are villains or broken or simple-minded society-type parasites. the main exceptions are a fairly well-developed love interest and the mysterious supporting character Barbara Deane. i liked that Barbara Deane.
overall, despite my complaints, this is a dense and enjoyable novel. the settings alone are worth the price of admission - well done there, Straub! and although this is a stand-alone novel, it is also the middle volume in the author's celebrated Blue Rose Trilogy, so there's that.
Details Epithetical Books Mystery (Blue Rose Trilogy #2)
| Title | : | Mystery (Blue Rose Trilogy #2) |
| Author | : | Peter Straub |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 728 pages |
| Published | : | 2002 by Pocket (first published 1990) |
| Categories | : | Horror. Fiction. Mystery. Thriller |
Rating Epithetical Books Mystery (Blue Rose Trilogy #2)
Ratings: 3.94 From 3740 Users | 165 ReviewsCommentary Epithetical Books Mystery (Blue Rose Trilogy #2)
After reading a string of bad books, Peter Straubs 1990 thriller, Mystery the second in his acclaimed Blue Rose trilogy was quite the refresher. Taking place in two different eras (the 60s and the 20s) And two perfectly evocative locations (a Caribbean island and an island near Wisconsin), this is a murder mystery/coming of age tale unlike any I have read before. This is Peter Straub, after all.At the center of the action is Tom Passmore, a boy who is struck by a car and almost killed at theI read this book four times in the last 12 years. The only other book I read this many times was "Keys to the Street" by Ruth Rendell. Some books have everything in them. Magical prose, a page turning story, psychology, geography, engagement of all of the senses, relationship politics, art, history, and musical rhythm.
Torturous and banal. At 545 pages, 540 pages too long. The murder mysteries were so uninteresting I kept closing the book and reaching for Spinoza. The blurbs and section headings tease us that the protagonist Tom dies twice....spoiler....not true! He escapes death twice, but I guess that doesn't draw in enough potboiler fans, who need some life after death. The setting of Mill Walk, an island in the Caribbean that seems to be an American protectorate, colony, or insular area, was unappealing in
Good mystery thriller!
This novel was good, but not great, to me--2.5 to 3 stars overall. It started out very strong--great characters and events that moved along nicely and absorbed my attention completely. But about halfway in, things started to move slowly and I felt my interest slackening. It wasn't that the story wasn't good; it just started plodding along, then the last part of the story was kind of wrapped up quickly and with a big bow. For this series, I prefer The Throat and Koko over this one. But that's
Peter Straub is an amazing author, and although his favorite novel of mine is Julia, Mystery has become a favorite of mine as well. It's not really scary, but incredibly eerie, gripping and intense, as vivid as real-life. It's well-written and the characters are complex; I highly recommend it to anyone who loves mysteries, thrillers or horror works.
When I began reading this I realized that I would say that it probably wasnt something I would have picked up on my own without Goodreads that is. And I still have that superficial opinion, but wait - it gets better! I must confess that in sitting down to write this review I looked at my To Read shelf to try and figure out who might have been the catalyst for my adding it back in 2009 and the winner is, author Laurie King.Mystery is a longish book of great story-telling. Primarily set on a
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